Contests to Avoid

A couple days ago, I listed a couple of poetry contests you could enter that did not require a fee to enter.  One was from Winning Writers.  While surfing their site I found a list of contests you should avoid.  I thought I would share it with you.

We suggest you avoid the following contests and organizations. Many appear to be disguised vanity publishers, whose goal is to sell you expensive personalized products and attract you to conferences. Others may charge you membership or service fees for which the benefits are questionable, or which can be obtained elsewhere for free. Winning prizes from these organizations will add little to your resume, and may even make you look amateurish to publishers and other poets.

America Library of Poetry
The Amherst Society
Cader Publishing
Circle of Poets
Famous Poets Society
Greenspring Publishing
Iliad Press (an imprint of Cader Publishing)
Iliad Literary Awards Program
International Library of Photography (aka Picture.com, read public comments)
JMW Publishing Company
League of American Poets (poetryamerica.com)
The National Archives
The Nashville International Song and Lyric Competition (aka Paramount Group)
Paramount Group
Picture.com (aka International Library of Photography, read public comments)
Poetry Institute of Africa
Poetry Laureates
Poetry Press
Poetry Revival Contest
Poetry Unlimited
The Poets’ Guild
PoetsOnly.com (see spoof contest entry and response; appears to be defunct)
Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum
Stamford Research
TA.TI. Edizioni
White Oak Press (aka Poetry America)

The most common pitch is to make poets buy their anthologies as a condition of publication. Publishers in this category include: Famous Poets Society, Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum, The Amherst Society, The Poets’ Guild, Poetry Press, Poetry Unlimited, The National Archives, and JMW Publishing. Others try to sell you services, such as manuscript editing or agency representation.

Vanity contests are characterized by low standards, and are willing to publish most of the submissions they receive (typically half or more). They primarily market their publications to the contestants themselves, often at high prices. Few copies are sold to independent buyers or libraries. A vanity contest is not necessarily a “scam”. It may well disclose its terms and selection procedures fully and accurately. Nevertheless, all of the contests above are a waste of your time. There are plenty of better ones to submit to, selective contests that want to promote good work to a wider audience.

Click this link to find out more about contests and a few agencies and publishers to avoid. http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/avoid/av_avoid.php

Kathy